What did you do with your flock today?

[PopoMyers]

People on this isle act like they are going to die if they have to travel 1 hour. Which is good traffic and road wise but still, little dedication or few with it.

I can totally relate. Use to think driving to Waianae was really far! (Only 25 ish miles) Around the island was an all day trip. Rush hour traffic in the 80's wasn't as bad as it seems now. DH rode his bicycle to work at Pearl Harbor from downtown and beat traffic everyday, except when he needed to fix a flat from kiawe thorns. We would judge a trip not by distance, but how long it would take to get there. Kauai's traffic has gotten way worse with the population increase.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I can totally relate. Use to think driving to Waianae was really far! (Only 25 ish miles) Around the island was an all day trip. Rush hour traffic in the 80's wasn't as bad as it seems now. DH rode his bicycle to work at Pearl Harbor from downtown and beat traffic everyday, except when he needed to fix a flat from kiawe thorns. We would judge a trip not by distance, but how long it would take to get there. Kauai's traffic has gotten way worse with the population increase.

It's insane. Waimea town got a traffic Iight installed They put a speed bump for school and hospital traffic and a stoplight for the fricking tourist to come down from Koke'e. I love that we are catering to an unsustainable industry Someone needs to be the realist or adult and put the breaks on this crap. Not to mention what they are doing to an endemic culture.
Yeah. I remember Maui and Kauai when the only stoplight was the yellow one hanging by a wire strictly for the canehaul trucks. Those were some good peaceful days. They are long gone ☹ Sorry for the islands, sorry for the good people who call it home- not vacation.
My dh's family lived Foster Village. Not military, Hawaiian airlines.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Collected winter eggs...First batch, I get about 12+ but collect many times so they don't freeze.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Well, I decided to go out and check on the chickens this morning and collect the eggs. Well I go in and Salt…well she is being Salty again. I am really hoping she just doesn’t want to be messed with in the nest box. But I pull the curtain back just to see who was in it, maybe a new layer and she went for my fingers. So I gave it 2 hours and I go check. Instead of going inside the coop I check through the nest box doors. And she is still there. She starts making T-Rex noises at me. And when I tried to just move her butt out of the way she tried pecking at me. The picture is of her growling at me. Honestly though, she didn’t get the name Salt for nothing…

 

[Shetland lover]

OMG! Elliot is a very mischievous and determined boy I’m so amazed he was able to survive! I had a cat that had a respiratory illness that turned into her not eating and my mom not noticing because she’d been hiding under the bed since I had left to head back to college after Christmas. So 2.5 weeks later my mom noticed she seemed thin and we decided she needed to move up to school with me even though cats weren’t technically allowed. She continued not eating so I took her to the vet school and they ran tests, did biopsies, and said she had just gotten so thin her body was starting to shut down—so they put a hole in her neck to feed her fluids without her being able to refuse it and throw it up. I decided to check her out and bring her home because I felt like her anxiety and separation anxiety were contributing to her not getting better. Spent almost two months feeding her thru the tube in her neck with a syringe of watery cat food 4 times a day while going to school full time. Took her about 2 weeks to stop projectile vomiting and then we got her some antidepressants that dissolved thru her ear as an ointment to limit more stress…and she finally started to heal. It was so traumatic and stressful for me and I felt I’d let her down because she was my baby and didn’t like anyone but me and I had to leave her behind when I went to college. After a year on the antidepressants I weaned her off and she lived another 8 years that was almost better for her than her first 12 years. She was more mellow, less easily startled, and just loved being with me. The things we do for the things we love! All your animals are clearly well loved and in great hands! Protection from themselves sometimes!

He's obsessed! I have to use the sewing machine when he's not around as he tries to eat the thread as it's running through the machine. And neither cat can be trusted with wool of any kind - although Grace's irresistible 'thing' is twigs.

Your poor cat! And you, having to go through it. Cats cannot go more than a couple of days without protein before they start to digest their own livers. You were really lucky to pull her through it. Elli was really depressed after his operation too. I think cats suffer depression more frequently than other animals.

You clearly love and cherish your animals too. I usually prefer them to people tbh

 

[Shetland lover]

Thanks Shetland, I hope she did. She got to eat eggs and veggies that made her happy, and sit with me every day while I worked, and got to go on a road trip…I just wish she could have stuck around longer. :-( I think I might be done with lavender birds. I’m just having terrible luck with them and I fall hard for them too. My big rooster that died last Christmas Day was a lavender Orpington, Asha was a lavender Orpington and Fluff was a lavender Ameraucana My last large fowl lavender bird is Nohope and he was acting weird yesterday so I got panicky and brought him inside for awhile. Gave him eggs and vitamins and watched him to see how he did and he seemed okay and enjoyed sitting with me, so I may have been overreacting…but who can blame me? He’s my big sweetheart boy and I’m just so tired of losing my favorite boys in tragic ways. Might bring him inside tomorrow too, supposed to be wet and rainy all day and if he’s feeling weird I don’t want it to get worse cuz I’m not out there to watch him better.

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I also moved the Balls outside with my young bantams and set up the new bigger run and they’re settling in well. Brie, Ariana Sushi, Parmesan and Pistachio are very easy going birds so I think they’ll do alright with the Balls. It’s not the best set up and I will be adding shavings to the run this weekend after the rain, but I think it will be workable for now!

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I’m so hoping I don’t have a December like I did last year. I feel like winter is becoming synonymous with chicken death and I am not a fan. :-(

I'm sure the Balls will fit in nicely. They certainly look happy enough!

Nohope is sooo pretty.
You've had such a tough time with chicken illness recently, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you overreacted to No hope appearing 'off'. I would be exactly the same. I also think it's important to trust your gut too. Sylv didn't crow the morning he was poisoned. That was absolutely not normal. Everything else seemed 'right' with him but I brought him in anyway and within 14 hours he was dead, despite prompt administration of antidote. On the other hand, I thought Connie was poorly one morning as she was acting a bit strange.So I took her indoors and sat her on my lap. There was not a thing wrong, she sat there watching YouTube, sharing cat treats with Grace! It was cold and miserable out and I just don't think she fancied being out in it

 

[Shetland lover]

Forgot to post Sammy's pic. He's not a year old yet, and has a big head and paws. Catches rodents often. Wish he would catch the rat digging into the coop.
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He's going to be such a big handsome boy. Those paws!

 

[Shetland lover]

Oh! Special shout out to @Shetland lover and Elliot! who would of or could of thunk that?!!! My goodness, what a silly miracle kitty to have made it through all of that. Great vet catch, great job all. Must have been horrible going through it at the time but BRAVO!!!

Thank you Tropical Babies. It was tough but we got there. The hardest thing was agreeing to the exploratory op, knowing we could lose him. But then, we definitely would have lost him if we'd just continued with conservative treatment.
He is a big idiot though. He's a house cat because of it but does go out on a harness and lead. He fights every cat in the neighbourhood, has no fear of dogs and absolutely no concept of danger. Once, we even managed to lose him down the back of the sofa for 4 hours! All 39 inches of him... Oh, and I once trailed round the entire neighbourhood for hours looking for him, knocking on doors and checking people's back gardens (including the home of a convicted sex offender) only for him to turn up 9 hours later in a neighbour's house, hiding behind their cat's toy box. Good job he's my baby...

 

[Shetland lover]

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Collected winter eggs...First batch, I get about 12+ but collect many times so they don't freeze.

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Such pretty eggs! It gets cold here - currently -10C - but at least we don't have to deal with frozen eggs

 

[Shetland lover]

Well, I decided to go out and check on the chickens this morning and collect the eggs. Well I go in and Salt…well she is being Salty again. I am really hoping she just doesn’t want to be messed with in the nest box. But I pull the curtain back just to see who was in it, maybe a new layer and she went for my fingers. So I gave it 2 hours and I go check. Instead of going inside the coop I check through the nest box doors. And she is still there. She starts making T-Rex noises at me. And when I tried to just move her butt out of the way she tried pecking at me. The picture is of her growling at me. Honestly though, she didn’t get the name Salt for nothing…

I swear they lose their minds when they go broody! At least only two of mine do. That's quite enough for me. Penelope literally screams like a banshee if you so much as look at her